Archive for December 2008

This is a collection of a few unrelated pictures/stories that I have meant to post and never have.
Not in any order…

Soon after we got back from Oregon, the check engine light in our car came on. Some of you know that we bought a new car that we like a lot, as much for its low cost and fuel efficiency as for anything. But, it was under warranty, so I wasn’t too worried. I took it to the dealership in Illinois and sat there for three hours while the mechanic tried to figure out what was wrong, but he couldn’t figure it out. There was some pressure leak in the fuel system, and he thought it might be a faulty gas cap. After we got to Michigan, I took it to another dealership. After a few more hours, the serviceman came out.

(Approximate conversation)
Serviceman: You had better come take a look at this.
Me: That doesn’t sound good.
Serviceman: Well, sometimes it’s just better for you to see it than for me to try to tell you about it.

So, we went out to the car and the fuel tank was dropped down from under the car. On top of the fuel tank, I saw this (pictures taken with serviceman’s phone):

Me: What in the devil is that?
Serviceman: Well, it’s a mouse nest. The mice have built a nest on top of the fuel tank, under the body of the car, using the fuel lines for structure. After hours of diagnostics and searching, we blew a bunch of smoke into the fuel system and it came pouring out of the bottom of the car. So, we looked, and found this. The mice have eaten through the fuel lines and into the fuel tank.

Yes, mice ate our brand new car.

We drove all over, to Chicago and back, to Grand Rapids and back (from Illinois), all after the light came on, all with a colony of mice living above the fuel tank. It took a week and $700 to get it fixed. All because of mice. Now we have mouse traps in the garage.

————–
When we were in Oregon over the summer, there were four generations of the Goates family in the house and Wayne wanted to take a picture, so we did. There’s a nice picture of the four sitting nicely on the couch. But this is my favorite one.

—————————–

During the fall here, the colors were beautiful. I loved watching the leaves change day by day on my commute to campus. Here are some pictures, some of them merges of a few pictures to get a wider shot. This wasn’t at the height of the colors, and it would have been better on a sunny day, but this was the day that I happened to have a camera in my bag with me on my bike.

———————–
And, finally, is this picture from November 4th, Logan’s birthday, and a a day of celebration for more reasons than that.